Collapsible vehicle boom



NOV. 4, 1952 HONEY 2,616,666

COLLAPSIBLE VEHICLE BOOM Filed D80. 3, 1948 2 SIIEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR. BURTON HONEY Zak 52M ATraA/JEYJ Nov. 4, 1952 B. HONEY 2,616,666

COLLAPSIBLE VEHICLE BOOM Filed Dec. 5, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 /f INVENTOR.

BURTON HONEY iatented Nov. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COLLAPSIBLE VEHICLE BOOM Burton Honey, Okanogan, Wash.

Application December 3, 1948, Serial No. 63,365

1 Claim.

This invention relates to automotive vehicle and boom assemblies, such as are used by utility companies for erecting line poles and for similar purposes, and more particularly to such an assembly wherein the boom may be raised for use and lowered for transportation and storage.

Utility trucks used in the repair and construction of electric power and telephone and telegraph lines are equipped with boom structures for raising poles, and supporting the poles in upright position until sufficient earth has been tamped around the lower ends of the poles to support them. Such a boom is usually a three legged structure having two upwardly convergent main legs secured at their bottom ends to the rear end of the vehicle frame, and a third leg convergent with the main legs at its upper end and secured at its bottom end to the vehicle frame intermediate the width and forwardly of the rear end of the latter. These three legs support a crown pulley at their upper, convergent ends and a suitable cable is suspended over the crown pulley and wound at one end on a power operated, vehicle carried winch and is used to raise and support line poles and for other purposes.

At present the boom structures are fabricated of separate and separable components and the boom must be completely assembled and attached to the vehicle each time it is erected for use, and disassembled, detached from the vehicle and its component parts stored in the vehicle for storage and transportation. Erecting and dismantling such a boom structure is an extremely laborious and time consuming operation and involves great danger of injury to the workman. The storage of the parts in the vehicle also necessitates keeping the interior of the vehicle clear and precludes the use of this space for other purposes.

It is therefore among the objects of the present invention to provide an improved vehicle and boom assembly wherein the boom is so attached to the vehicle that it can be raised and lowered by the boom cable and power winch and does not have to be assembled for use and dismantled for storage and transportation, and requires little or no manual effort for its erection and retraction, in which the boom is stored on the top of the vehicle leaving the interior space of the vehicle free for other purposes than storage of the boom parts, and which assembly can utilize conventional vehicle, boom, winch and cable components without material modification, and is strong and durable in construction, easy to use, and simple and economical to provide.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claim in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vehicle and boom assembly showing the application thereto of boom lowering and raising means illustrative of the invention;

Figure 2 is a rear end elevation of the boom and vehicle assembly illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the boom structure in two partly raised or partly lowered positions;

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 1, showin the boom structure in completely lowered position; and I Figure 5 is a transverse cross section on a somewhat enlarged scale taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1, and showing structural details of the assembly.

With continued reference to the drawings, the vehicle, generally indicated at I0, may be a conventional truck having front wheels II, rear wheels I2, an engine compartment I3, a drivers cab I4 and a chassis frame I5 extending over and rearwardly of the rear wheels I2. In utility trucks of the character indicated, two elongated tool and equipment boxes I6 are mounted on the frame I5, one at each side of the frame to provide between them an internal space in the front end of which a winch I1 is located. The side boxes I6 extend upwardly from the chassis frame I5 to a level somewhat above the top of the cab I l of the truck and include respective side frames securely fastened at their bottoms to the truck and are arranged in closely spaced pairs with one pair disposed adjacent each end of the rear frame member, and a pair of spaced apertured lugs 20 extend upwardly from the floor of the vehicle substantially midway the Width of the space between the side boxes IB and forwardly of the rear end of the frame.

The boom, generally indicated at 2I, is a three legged structure having two main legs 22 which may be conveniently formed of continuous metal tubes and a third telescopic leg 23. Each of the main legs 22 has secured to and projecting from its lower end an apertured lug 24 received between a corresponding pair of frame carried lugs I9 and detaohably secured to the frame carried lugs by a suitable bolt or pin 25 extending through alined apertures in the associated lugs l9 and 26. At their upper ends, these main legs 22 are fiattened or provided with suitable, solid extensions 26 apertured to receive a bolt or pin 21, which constitutes an axle for a crown pulley 28 rotatably mounted on the upper, convergent end of the boom.

The third leg 23 comprises two telescopically associated tubular members 29 and 3B, the larger, 29, of which is provided with a series of longitudinally spaced apart apertures 3i and the smaller, 30, of which is provided near one end With a pair of alined apertures. A locking pin 32, ext-endible through the apertures in the smaller tube 30 and through a selected pair of alined apertures 31 in the larger tube, secures the two telescopically associated tubes 29 and 39 together in a manner to provide a desired length for the third leg 23 of the boom structure. At the lower end, the smaller tube 33 is flattened or provided with a fiat, solid extension receivable between the two lugs 20 upstanding from the vehicle floor and apertured to receive a pin or bolt 33 for detachably securing the lower ends of the leg 23 to the lugs 28. At its upper end, the larger tube 29 is provided with a pair of longitudinally extending, aperture plates 34, which receive the crown pulley 28 between them and through which the crown pulley axle 2i passes. By this means, the crown pulley is rotatably mounted at the upper, convergent end of the boom structure and the three legs of the boom are solidly connected together at their upper ends.

A boom cable 35 is wound at one end on the drum 36 of the winch ll and is suspended over the crown pulley 28 and provided on its free end with a suitable hook 3'! or other attaching device.

With the structure so far described, the boom legs, the crown pulley 28 and the mounting pins are carried in the vehicle as separate components and when it is desired to erect the boom for use, these components may be assembled together and mounted on the vehicle in the manner indicated above, and when the use of the boom has been completed, the boom may be completely disassembled and its several parts stored in the vehicle space between the side boxes l6 for transportation or storage. This, as explained above, is a laborious and time consuming operation, involving serious danger of personal injury to the workmen assembling and disassembling the boom, and the present invention contemplates the provision of simple and efiicient means for raising and lowering the boom without the necessity of assembling or disassembling the component parts thereof.

In line with the present invention, a first transverse bar or shaft 38 is secured at its opposite ends to the rear ends of the side boxes it by suitable clips 39 surrounding the ends of the bar 38 and secured to the rear ends of the side boxes at the upper ends of the latter. A cable guide sheave Mi is journalled on the transverse bar 38 intermediate the length of the latter and at a location slightly displaced from the rearwardly extending plane of the third leg of the boom. A second transverse bar t! extends between the bottom ends of the two main legs 22 of the boom 4 and is secured at its ends to the bottom ends of these main legs by suitable brackets or fittings 42, and a cable guide sheave 43 is journalled on the transverse bar 65, substantially at the mid length location of the latter. A suitable hook or eye is secured to the rear end of the frame 45 in position to lie directly below the cable sheave 33 and projects rearwardly from the rear cross member of the frame to receive the hook 31 of the cable 35.

A respective saddle 55 is secured to each main leg 22 of the boom and extends forwardly from the corresponding main leg in alinement with the first or upper cross bar 38. Each of these saddles may conveniently comprise a triangular bracket ea projecting outwardly from the boom leg and a U-shaped clip d1 secured to the outer corner of the triangular bracket and having legs spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the bar or shaft 38.

Assuming now that the boom is in its erected position, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, and that it is desired to lower the boom by use of the power operated winch [1, the pin 33 is first removed to free lower end of the third leg 23. The pin 32 is then removed and the third leg shortened until its bottom end will pass over the transverse bar 38 and when the bottom end of the third leg has been passed over the transverse bar, the upper end of the boom is pulled forwardly until the clips il of the saddles 45 receive the bar 38 to pivotally support the boom. The cable 35 is then brought over the sheaveAS and the hook 3? engaged with the eyes 3A. The pins or bolts 25, securing the bottom endsof the main legs of the boom to the vehicle frame, are then removed and by using the winch brake to gradually pay out the cable 35, the upper end of the boom is lowered from the position shown in full lines in Figure 3 through the position shown in dotted lines in that figure to the fully lowered position shown in Figure 4. During this lowering of the boom, the boom is held against falling by a force exerted by the cable 35 between the cable sheave 43 and the eye 44 with the ,transverse bar 38 serving as a fulcrum. When the boom is fully lowered, it rests upon a suitable chock d8 extending transversely across the upper sides of the side boxes [6 near the forward ends After the boom has been lowered of the latter. to the position shown in Figure 4, it may be secured by a suitable latch ortie, if desired.

The tail plate has at its lower edge a rearward extension 49 providing a shelf which will prevent) the main legs of the boom from falling when the lower ends of such main legs are detached from the lugs l9.

When it is desired to raise the boom from the position shown in Figure 4 back to the erected position shown in Figures 1 and 2, power is applied to the winch l! to wind in the cable 35. T1115 winding in of the cable forces the sheave pairs of lugs 45. inserted so that the boom is held in a position approximating the full line position of Figure 3.

The hook 37 is then released from the eye 44 and the lower end of the third leg 23 brought out over the bar 38 and secured to the lugs 20 by thepi-n 33. The upper end of the boom is then forced rearwardly until the desired rearward inclination of the main legs 22 of the boom is obtained where upon the pin 32 is inserted through, the telescopically associated tubes 29 and 30 of the third leg to rigidly secure the boom in operative condition.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claim are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What I claim:

In an automotive vehicle and boom assembly including a vehicle frame, side boxes carried by said frame and terminating short of the rear end of said frame, a power operated winch carried by said frame between said side boxes, a three legged boom carried by said frame and including two main legs and a third, adjustable length leg, a crown pulley carried by said boom at the upper end of the latter and a boom cable wound at one end on said winch and suspended over said crown pulley, means for raising and lowering said boom by said power operated winch comprising means detachably connecting the bottom ends of the two main legs of said boom to said frame at the rear end of the latter, means detachably connecting the bottom end of the third leg of said boom to said frame ahead of the rear end of the frame, a first transverse bar secured to said side boxes near the top of the latter to extend across the space between said side boxes adjacent the main legs of said boom and above said vehicle frame, a second transverse bar secured at its ends to said main boom legs near the bottom ends of the latter, cable sheaves journaled one on each of said transverse bars, saddles carried one by each of said main boom legs rotatably engageable with said first transverse bar to pivotally support said boom when the boom legs are detached from said frame for lowering said boom, said saddles being movable away from said first transverse bar when said boom is erected to permit said main boom legs to assume an upwardly and rearwardly inclined position relative to said frame, and an eye secured to the rear end of said frame for attaching of the free end of said cable to said frame with said cable trained over said cable sheaves, whereby said winch controls the turning of said boom about said first transverse bar as a fulcrum between its erected position and a lowered position in which it rests upon the top of said side boxes.

BURTON HONEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 4 1,372 838 smith Mar. 29, 1921 1,699,480 Snow, Jr. Jan. 15, 1929 2,257,873 Troche Oct. 7, 1941 2,331,559 McEwen Oct. 12, 1943 2,379,333 Athy June 26, 1945 2,541,970 Pospisil Feb. 13, 1951 

